Manchester City vs Chelsea
No one in the Premier League finds the idea of playing Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium a thrilling idea. Not only are the Sky Blues the defending champions of the English game, but their 55,000-capacity stomping grounds will also be a hostile place to play in.
Chelsea will have the unfortunate task of beating the league leaders in their own home. The Blues are struggling to get a consistent run of form under Maurizio Sarri, and many of the Chelsea faithful are bewildered how the Blues, a team that was formerly undefeated in the season’s early stages, are now barely hanging on to the final Champions League slot.
Of course, Chelsea still have the players that can help them steal a point right under Manchester City’s noses. And a lot of Liverpool fans will be hoping that they will be able to pull that off.
Talking Points
Man City to continue their dominant streak
The Sky Blues are back where they belong. If you believe the ultras lurking around the Etihad, that is.
A good number of City faithful began sweating bullets when the Sky Blues tripped at the tail-end of 2018 with three losses and a draw. They temporarily saw tough title rivals Liverpool had a comfortable lead at the top as pundits and SBOBET fans loudly wondered if this would be the year of the Reds.
Even some of the players were affected by the rough patch they went through. Bernardo Silva openly admitted that they thought they bottled the league: “A few days ago, we thought we had lost the Premier League.”
However, Pep Guardiola made sure that his boys kept their heads down and focused on the games ahead. Surely enough, they began winning football games again while looking like they didn’t put that much effort at all.
Their six-pointer triumph against Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool was the biggest of their Premier League 2019 highlights that helped in their climb back to the top. Their 0-2 victory over Everton vaulted them back to the top of the league. All City have to do now to win the title is keep on winning their games.
City definitely have the talent needed to succeed against Chelsea. Raheem Sterling, Sergio Aguero, and Leroy Sane are a potent attacking trio: the three of them combine for 32 Premier League goals. Fernandinho and David Silva are also ready to provide support when needed.
Defeat is not an option for Pep when he has players of this calibre, and I doubt that the Spaniard will fail to deliver.
Time to let Sarriball go?
Sarri’s signature style of play — appropriately called Sarriball — was a hit when the Italian first arrived in the league. However, his tactics have paltered lately as Chelsea struggled to get in fighting form.
Their one-sided defeat to Arsenal shows how his tactics have performed on English soil: sloppy, lazy, uninspired. Jorginho struggles to find his form as the regista that holds everything together, and Eden Hazard tends to be uninvolved in some matches.
Sarri knows that results matter at Stamford Bridge and that his current tactics do not work the way he intends it to. A change must be made if he is to start a winning run in the league. Some will suggest that he utilises N’Golo Kante better. Some might say that a more attack-heavy formation would suit the Blues well.
It’s a consensus that everything must change in order for Chelsea to succeed. The question is this, though: does Sarri have the humility to recognise the lack of success his tactic has on British soil and try something different?
History
As two of the most successful English clubs, it’s no wonder that the two have met on the English top-flight more often than not. Of the last 146 duels they have played, 58 were won by Chelsea. Given how Chelsea overwhelmed City when they last faced each other in December, there’s little question that Sarri ball would be used here again.
However, City are coming off a strong run of form at home with consecutive wins against Arsenal and Everton. We’re sure that they will approach this game with the same quality of attacking prowess.
Betting Tip
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Manchester City vs Chelsea | Chelsea +1.00 @ 2.11 |
| February 02, 00:00 (GMT+8) |
I honestly believe that Manchester City will be able to win this game. They just have too good of a roster to even have a slump at this point in the season. With their personnel and tactics performing at a high level, it would be hard to bet against them.
However, I believe that Chelsea would be able to perform. They still have Eden Hazard on their side, and his presence alone is affecting Premier League 2019 betting odds. I believe that they have enough players to be able to enact a more effective strategy.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR ( ) BETS ARE WORTH: |
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|---|---|---|---|
| = €20 (Highly confident) |
 = €10 (CONFIDENT) |
= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT) |
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Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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